From Sabarmati Ashram, Akshardham Temple to JCB plant; these pictures capture UK PM Boris Johnson's ongoing India visit

UK PM Boris Johnson, who is on a two-day official tour to India, visited Sabarmati Ashram, Akshardham Temple and some other places in Gujarat. He tried his hand at spinning the charkha and left a note at the visitors' book of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. He wrote, "It is an immense privilege to come to the ashram of this extraordinary man and to understand how he mobilised such simple principles of truth and non-violence to change the world for the better." Boris Johnson was accompanied by Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and the UK High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis during his visit to Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar. He offered flowers to the idol of Lord Swaminarayan at the temple. Johnson was accorded a unique welcome at Gujarat Biotechnology University (GBU) as a safa (pagh) was wrapped around his head by a swami from Maninagar Swaminarayan Sansthan. He also inaugurated a JCB plant at Halol in Panchmahals district of Gujarat. However, the visuals of his waving from a bulldozer drew widespread criticism in India and UK. The bulldozer has become talk of the town in India in the wake of demolition drives following communal clashes in several parts of the country. On the second day of his visit, Boris Johnson was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. Johnson was received by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Presidential palace. Later, both leaders held extensive talks at Hyderabad House in the capital with an aim to further expand cooperation in areas of defence, trade and clean energy.